After a year of pushing boundaries, what 2024 holds for Newport Classical
As we welcome a New Year this month, it is a natural time to reflect on the many joys, inspirational moments and incredible support that the previous year has brought us at Newport Classical. 2023 was a year of unprecedented success, setting records and pushing boundaries. During the second season of our Chamber Series concerts, which take place monthly on Friday nights throughout the year, we saw a 22% increase in attendance over the prior season; renovated the Newport Classical Recital Hall stage allowing us to continue presenting world-class classical music year-round in downtown Newport at an even higher level of professionalism and excellence; reached 70% more students through our Music Education and Engagement Initiative; and welcomed over 7,500 audience members to our Newport Classical Music Festival this past summer. We are so thrilled and grateful to have this level of involvement and support from the Newport community and beyond, and look forward to continuing to work in concert with the community to build upon this momentum.
Newport Classical’s mission is to bring timeless music for today to the city year-round, through our popular summertime Newport Classical Music Festival which takes place at Newport’s historic mansions and venues (mark your calendars for July 4-21, 2024), our Community Concerts Series which brings free performances to Newport residents right in their own neighborhoods, and Chamber Series concerts presented downtown in our home venue, the Newport Classical Recital Hall.
Our first two Chamber Series concerts of 2024 featuring rising star pianist Eric Lu on Jan. 26 and the award-winning Galvin Cello Quartet on Feb. 23 are already sold out, so don’t miss the chance to get tickets for our next performance on March 22. Eleni Katz takes the stage in a program celebrating the many facets of the bassoon. Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, Eleni has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. She is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Competition and will be joined by pianist Evren Ozel in his return to the Newport Classical stage. Together, they bring life to the classical bassoon repertoire exploring dance styles, rhythms, lyricism, and emotion in music by Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Coleridge-Taylor, and more. This is a not-to-be-missed evening – you may think you know the bassoon, but Eleni will give you a whole new perspective on this versatile and beautiful instrument!
Although his Newport Classical debut concert on Jan. 26 is sold out, we caught up with “poet of the keyboard” (The Guardian) Eric Lu to ask him about his program and what he is looking forward to about being in Newport.
Newport Classical: Tell us about your early life and the role of music in it. When did you begin playing the piano?
Eric Lu: Music has always played a crucial role in my life, for as long as I can remember. I started between the ages of 5 and 6, and I remember really just being taken by the classical recordings we had around the house, along with sitting in on my sister’s piano lessons.
Newport Classical: Tell us about how you choose music to perform. What is your process for building your concert programs?
Eric Lu: With each program or time period, there are different considerations that go into things, but one thing that is a constant is that I will always choose pieces that I love. Other general considerations include making programs that aurally make sense to listen to, within the context of the two halves of a solo recital. I also consider the relationships between pieces and the composers that I include on a concert, balancing seamless transitions and similar styles with enough contrast between works. I often imagine I’m in the audience and I program what I would like to hear following a certain piece. Generally in a recital program, I start with one or two major works, and then build around those.
Newport Classical: Is this your first time in Newport and if so, what are you looking forward to exploring the most?
Eric Lu: I have been to Newport before as a visitor, as it is not too far away from where I grew up outside of Boston. I remember it to be very beautiful, and unique in history. I look forward to being there this time during the winter season.
Newport Classical: During your time in Newport, you will be engaging with students in a performance workshop at a local school. Could you share your thoughts on the importance of robust music education in schools?
Eric Lu: I think it is extremely important to have music education in schools. It is such a rich, wonderful, and historic art form that has the entirety of human life experience in it. Often, kids will not listen to classical music, or won’t understand it, but I think this is due to the lack of exposure to it in everyday life, including in early education schools. I think it is certainly a responsibility of us classical musicians to try to expose more people of all ages to the essence of it, and all its greatness. After all, I think once you love it, you will find it relatable to many parts of your own life.
Tickets for all Newport Classical Chamber Series concerts can be purchased online at www.newportclassical.org/concerts. The Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-21, 2024, with programming announced on March 26.
Gillian Friedman Fox is Newport Classical's executive director. Her column appears monthly in The Newport Daily News and on newportri.com.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Newport Classical 2024: Elani Katz, returns of music festival
